Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Some things I like about Moodle

Versatility of discussion tools:

Example: I can set up a discussion with a thread for every vocabulary word. Students reply with pictures, definitions, words used in sentences, in a rich demonstration of understanding. I wrote about that here.

Example: Discussion where students have to post before they can read what other students say – which really cuts down on “me, too” posts. Not all discussions have to be this way, but sometimes I really want students to tell me what they think without giving them a chance to hide behind other peoples’ thoughts.

Example: Groups. I can give discussion access only to members of a work-group. This is also handy when I don’t want students to have to read postings from so many others that they turn off.

Vibrant community – While there is no vendor to call, there are many other generous, helpful Moodle users who freely give of their time and talents. Blogs, collections of video tutorials are everywhere.

Choice – one can pay to have somebody else host their Moodle classes (my choice) or download Moodle and run it oneself. As an individual teacher paying for this out of my own pocket, this isn’t breaking the bank, and I get plenty of support from my vendor (Globalclassroom).

I’m still exploring all the tools that Moodle has to offer. There are enough that I can often start in Moodle instead of having to learn a new tool, and set up still another set of userids and passwords for all my students. Less work? Yesssss!

Twitter Updates 2.2: FeedWitter

Subscribe To

Subscribe via email

About

Fran Lo is a teacher trainer (for teachers in grades 6 to 12) and a teacher (Social Studies, English, and Technology). Her English classes incorporate so much technology that they have become hybrid/blended classes.